I haven’t been a consistent blogger this year, so there are a lot of things that happened that I just didn’t document anywhere. I’m taking advantage of the end of the year as my reflection time.
We rang in the new year in Colorado with two of our best friends. We hiked, skied and laughed a lot around their table. Playing games New Year’s Eve was definitely a highlight. I remember laughing so hard that night that my abs hurt. We made it to midnight and were asleep by 12:15.
We spent a few weeks in Milwaukee and Madison early in the year for work. We enjoyed new breweries, the art museum and this lake house that we rented. We made the best of being away from our home for a while. Our beer and cheese tasting at the Sprecher brewery was my absolute favorite. I actually wrote a post about our Milwaukee time here.
Winter snuggling with Lola. She was the most epic napper and the only dog I know that liked to sleep in as late as the last one in bed. I miss her all the time, but most on cold nights and mornings while I read. I mean, that tail.
We hosted a baby shower for two of our favorite people that welcomed twins to their family in April of this year. We rented out 1/2 of a pizza restaurant and had a bunch of our favorite people all together to celebrate. We used the book pictured as the guest book for people to write notes to the kids and I loved the way it turned out.
We made the famous road trip from Miami to Key West. I woke up every morning to watch the sunrise and we made sure our dinner every night had a view of the sunset. It’s such a great part of the country and they rebuilt so quickly from the hurricanes of 2017. Plus, I ate some of the best Key Lime Pie. You can read a little more here.
The reason for our Florida trip was the wedding of these two. Tami happens to be one of my most favorite blogger friends turned real life friends. We had so much fun celebrating with them and partying with their friends and family. I also realize that every picture of the four of us resembles this one in some way. Maybe we’ll take a normal group shot during our January vacation with them.
We had another epic Montana trip this year. This specific moment was a favorite because these fools didn’t make it very far down the hill before epic wipe outs and then they had to army crawl back up because the snow was almost three feet deep and they kept sinking in.
I took a girl’s trip to Austin with these two in April. It was a quick weekend, but we ate as many tacos as we could find and walked and biked all over the city. It all happened while there was a major blizzard at home.
The first spring hike of the year was a favorite. We drove to a state park an hour south of the cities to make the most of our state park pass for the year. It was quiet, chilly and there were lots of these trying to peak out from under the leaves.
We enjoyed a couple early season weekends in Okoboji at my in-law’s place. I love going down there before the crowds that come for the fourth of July. There were barely any boats on the lake. The best part was introducing friends to this magic little resort town in the farm fields of Iowa.
Our first trip to the Garden of the Gods and Red Rocks happened the same day and it was definitely one of our favorite days of the year. Both places are completely breathtaking and we are so lucky to have friends that live in Colorado and are kind enough to let us crash with them.
Each and every single morning I spent on the porch with this little peanut before she was gone. She loved the sunlight, so she always curled up in this chair. It is still my favorite part of our little house, but it’s not quite as wonderful by myself.
That’s it for the first half of the year. I’ll be back tomorrow with more, but I can only handle so much reminiscing for one day. Hope you’re enjoying some quiet time for reflection yourself this week.
